Jacksonville Jaguars Sold To Illinois Businessman For $770 Million

Wayne Weaver has sold the Jacksonville Jaguars to Shahid Khan, a Pakistan-born entrepreneur and head of Illinois-based
Flex-N-Gate Corp, for $770 million. People familiar with the matter say Kahn used $350 million of debt to finance the deal.

In August we said the Jaguars were worth $725 million, last among the National Football League's 32 teams. But in September
Walt Disney-owned
ESPN signed a new television deal with the NFL that was 73% more than the previous contract. The Jaguars sale price clearly reflects the boost in television revenue given that the most recent sale prior to the Jaguars were the St. Louis Rams, which were acquired by Forbes 400 member Stan Kroenke in 2010 for $750 million.

The Jaguars play in the NFL's third-smallest market and Weaver has often had a combative relationship with local politicians over the teams lease at EverBank Field. Last year Weaver cut a deal with the city giving Weaver all of the revenue from the $16.6 million, five-year stadium naming rights agreement with EverBank. The prior agreement gave 25% of the naming rights to the city.

Khan had previously attempted to buy the St. Louis Rams from the children of the late Georgia Frontiere in 2010. But the team was grabbed by Kroenke, who had the right of first refusal to purchase the Rams.

The sale to Khan was announced the same day the struggling Jaguars fired head coach Jack Del Rio and replaced him with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. The Jaguars have had hard time selling tickets, averaging 62,000 per home game this year, 26th in the league. To avoid embarrassing blackouts of its home games the team has been buying tickets.

The Jaguars, along with the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers, have been mentioned as teams most likely to to move to a new stadium in Los Angeles for which Farmers Insurance Exchange has agreed to pay $700 million for naming rights. Weaver has denied the team will leave Jacksonville. The team's stadium lease with Jacksonville runs through 2027. But if revenue projections are high enough at the new L.A. stadium then it could all come down to how much Khan would have to pay to get out of the lease and to the NFL as a relocation fee.